This story of a Reform school filled with screwed up delinquents plays more like a parody than a serious drama. At times it seems to work, but it mostly just rambles on with rude and raucous behavior from maladjusted students and the faculty trying desperately to hold things together. Glenda Jackson (Miss Macmichael) is a self-sacrificing teacher bordering on martyrdom. She believes she can reach these children who constantly disturb, destroy and harass everyone around them. We wonder why she's so stupid to believe in such a fallacy. As we witness her mind-blowing tolerance for these reprobates, our desire to kill some of these kids grows concurrently. Watching Oliver Reed as the corrupt and supercilious Principal (Mr. Sutton) is worth a laugh or two. He plays it big and mugs a lot for the camera. Unfortunately, when Miss Macmichael and Mr. Sutton have their showdown at the end while she trashes his office, we are left with an unsatisfying feeling of disgust: What was the point of all this?
Review of The Class of Miss MacMichael
